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DEA %E&S: ' E(TRADITED O% %ORT) *OREA% MET) CO%SPIRAC+

DEA %E&S: ' E(TRADITED, C)AR-ED &IT) %ORT) *OREA% DR.- TRAFFIC*I%- CO%SPIRAC+

DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart and Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New Yor , today announced the arrests of fi!e defendants " S#$%% S%AMME&S and P'(L(P S'A#)ELS, citi*ens of the United )in+dom, YE %($N- %AN L(M, a citi*en of the Peo.le/s &e.u0lic of #hina, )ELLY ALLAN &EYES PE&AL%A, a citi*en of the Phili..ines, and ALE1ANDE& LNU, a2 2a 3Ale4ander #heco!,5 a2 2a 3Ale4ander Semenco!,5 a resident of %hailand 63ALE1ANDE&57. S%AMME&S, S'A#)ELS, L(M, &EYES PE&AL%A, and ALE1ANDE& are each char+ed with cons.irin+ to im.ort 899 ilo+rams of North )orean.roduced metham.hetamine into the United States.

Each of the defendants was arrested in %hailand in Se.tem0er. %he fi!e defendants were e4tradited from %hailand, arri!ed in the Southern District of New Yor yesterday e!enin+, and are e4.ected to 0e .resented in U.S. Ma+istrate #ourt later today.

DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said: 3Li e many international criminal networ s, these dru+ traffic ers ha!e no res.ect for 0orders, and no re+ard for either the rule of law or who they harm as a result of their criminal endea!ors. %his in!esti+ation continued to hi+hli+ht the emer+ence of North )orea as a si+nificant source of metham.hetamine in the

+lo0al dru+ trade. ( wish to than the %hai -o!ernment for their outstandin+ efforts and .artnershi. in com.letely dismantlin+ this so.histicated and dan+erous international criminal enter.rise.5

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: 3Metham.hetamine is a dan+erous, .otentially deadly dru+, whate!er its ori+in. (f it ends u. in our nei+h0orhoods, the threat it .oses to .u0lic health is +ra!e whether it is .roduced in New Yor , elsewhere in the U.S., or in North )orea. %his in!esti+ation shows our determination to close a .otential flood+ate of su..ly.5

Accordin+ to the alle+ations in the (ndictment a+ainst S%AMME&S, S'A#)ELS, L(M, &EYES PE&AL%A, and ALE1ANDE&:

(n ;98;, L(M and &EYES PE&AL%A " mem0ers of a 'on+ )on+<0ased criminal or+ani*ation " sold o!er =9 ilo+rams of metham.hetamine that had 0een .roduced in North )orea. S%AMME&S and S'A#)ELS were res.onsi0le for storin+ the metham.hetamine after it had 0een sold 0y L(M and &EYES PE&AL%A. %his North )orean metham.hetamine was later sei*ed 0y law enforcement a+ents in %hailand and in the Phili..ines. %he North )orean metham.hetamine tested at more than >>? .ure.

(n ;98=, L(M and &EYES PE&AL%A a+ain a+reed to .ro!ide North )orean metham.hetamine, this time a+reein+ to su..ly 899 ilo+rams of the metham.hetamine to confidential sources wor in+ at the direction of the DEA 6the 3#Ses57 for im.ortation to the United States. As L(M e4.lained, his criminal or+ani*ation is the only one currently a0le to o0tain metham.hetamine from North )orea: 3Because 0efore, there were ei+ht @other or+ani*ationsA. But now only us, we ha!e the N) .roduct. . . . @(At/s only us who can +et from N).5 L(M further e4.lained that, 0ecause of recent international tensions, the North )orean +o!ernment had destroyed some metham.hetamine la0s, lea!in+ 0ehind only the la0s of L(M/s or+ani*ation: 3And all the, the N) +o!ernment already 0urned all the la0s. $nly our la0s are not closed. . . . %o show Americans that they @the North )orean +o!ernmentA are not sellin+ it

any more, they 0urned it. %hen they transfer to another 0ase.5 L(M e4.lained that his or+ani*ation had stoc .iled one ton of North )orean metham.hetamine in the Phili..ines for stora+e, 3@0Aecause we already antici.ated this thin+ would ha..en . . . @where0yA we cannot 0rin+ out our +oods ri+ht now.5

As a .relude to the ;98= 899< ilo+ram metham.hetamine deal descri0ed a0o!e, L(M and &EYES PE&AL%A arran+ed to ha!e a sam.le of the metham.hetamine deli!ered to S'A#)LES, who sent that sam.le 6alon+ with a second sam.le from another su..lier7 to an address from which the metham.hetamine sam.les would 0e sent to the United States. %hese two metham.hetamine sam.les tested at more than >B? and more than >C? .ure. L(M and &EYES PE&AL%A a+reed to deli!er the 899 ilo+rams of North )orean metham.hetamine in %hailand, from where they understood it would 0e shi..ed to the United States 0y 0oat. L(M and &EYES PE&AL%A arran+ed for a 3dry run,5 sendin+ a shi..in+ container of tea lea!es from the Phili..ines to %hailand in order to test deli!ery channels that would later 0e used for the shi.ment of metham.hetamine.

S%AMME&S, S'A#)ELS, and ALE1ANDE& a+reed to .ro!ide security, trans.ortation, and stora+e for the 899 ilo+rams of metham.hetamine once it arri!ed in %hailand. ALE1ANDE&, the Ser+eant<at<Arms of the $utlaw Motorcycle #lu0 63$M#57 in %hailand, was to 0e the 3+round commander,5 su.er!isin+ an armed crew of $M# mem0ers .ro!idin+ security for the metham.hetamine. S%AMME&S and S'A#)ELS were to arran+e for the 899 ilo+rams to 0e ta en to a warehouse, counted, re<.ac a+ed, and deli!ered to a marina in %hailand, to 0e transferred to a 0oat that would deli!er the metham.hetamine to the United States.

(n Se.tem0er ;98=, L(M and &EYES PE&AL%A tra!eled to %hailand in order to recei!e .ayment for the 899 ilo+ram metham.hetamine deal. S%AMME&S, L(M, PE&AL%A &EYES, S'A#)ELS, and ALE1ANDE& were each arrested 0y %hai law enforcement on Se.tem0er ;D, ;98=.

S%AMME&S, EE, L(M, D=, &EYES PE&AL%A, E8, S'A#)ELS, =9, and ALE1ANDE&, E=, ha!e each 0een char+ed with cons.iracy to im.ort metham.hetamine into the United States. %he case is assi+ned to United States District Fud+e Andrew L. #arter, Fr. (f con!icted, each of the defendants faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years/ im.risonment and a ma4imum term of life im.risonment.

Mr. Bharara .raised the outstandin+ wor of the S.ecial $.erations Di!ision of the DEA.

Mr. Bharara also than ed DEA/s Ban+ o , Manila, -hana, Pretoria, Bucharest, Nassau, and #o.enha+en #ountry $ffices, the %hai Police Narcotics Su..ression Bureau and #rime Su..ression Di!ision, the &oyal %hai (mmi+ration Bureau, the &oyal %hai Attorney -eneralGs $ffice, the &e.u0lic of Li0eria/s National Security A+ency, the &e.u0lic of Li0eria/s Attorney -eneralGs $ffice, the &omanian National Police, (nter.ol, and the U.S. De.artment of Fustice $ffice of (nternational Affairs.

%his .rosecution is 0ein+ handled 0y the $fficeGs %errorism and (nternational Narcotics Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael D. Loc ard, Aimee 'ector and Anna M. S ot o are in char+e of the .rosecution.

%he char+es contained in the (ndictment are merely accusations and the defendants are .resumed innocent unless and until .ro!en +uilty.

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